J. Peter Deeb

Managing Partner, Deeb MacDonald & Associates, L.L.C.

J. Peter Deeb is a founding partner of Deeb MacDonald & Associates, L.L.C., a provider of professional consulting services for the consumer package goods industry. Mr. Deeb’s role as managing partner encompasses all areas of the company including management, business development, and execution of client’s projects.

Prior to the formation of Deeb MacDonald & Associates, L.L.C., Mr. Deeb worked for several Unilever companies and Sorrento Lactalis for over 30 years. His senior management positions covered diverse areas of sales, marketing and general management.

He held several senior positions at T. J. Lipton, Inc., within training, marketing and sales. As National Training Manager, Mr. Deeb was responsible for development and implementation of leading edge programs for a 500-person direct sales force and colleagues in sales related disciplines.

Mr. Deeb’s senior sales positions at T. J. Lipton, Inc., and later as Vice President, Sales at Unilever Foods, provided leadership to over 350 sales associates and sales agent resources. He managed geographical areas, key national account sales teams and alternate channel businesses. Mr. Deeb was responsible for sales growth, profitability and personnel development. He also served on several industry studies for GMA and FMI while at T. J. Lipton, Inc., and Unilever, and continues to serve on the Board of the Food Industry Alliance of New York State.

He initiated the trade marketing process at T. J. Lipton, Inc., and led the team that developed the structure and processes, including the computerized system, still in use today. Later as Vice President, Trade Marketing for Unilever Foods, Mr. Deeb led the integration of the T. J. Lipton, Inc., and Van den Bergh Foods, Inc., Trade Marketing teams into one effective group functioning with the best practices of both companies.

Mr. Deeb also served as Director, Consumer Marketing at T. J. Lipton, Inc., and spearheaded the evolution of programs to include direct marketing to the consumer and use of consumer segmentation programs to more effectively attract new consumers and build loyalty in the existing base.

Mr. Deeb served as Vice President, Sales and General Manager at Sorrento Lactalis, the North American division of Groupe Lactalis. He was responsible for sales and profits for the $800MM organization and managed the retail, private brand, foodservice and industrial channels for this major cheese manufacturer. He introduced category management and systematized the trade marketing process at Sorrento Lactalis from order entry to payment. He also led the sales team to profitability-based management in a commodity-based industry.

Mr. Deeb received his B. S. degree from Duquesne University and was selected to participate in Unilever’s International Executive Training Program Courses that included sales, marketing, finance and general management.

Costco should definitely step up their initiatives to keep pace with where the consumer is going. They have done a great job of keeping the in-store customer loyal. Now is the time to step up the e-commerce initiatives. This is a good opportunity because much of online shopping is a treasure hunt. The largest threat to Costco's success is to fall behind in the fastest growing method of shopping.

This is a no brainer for convenience stores or retailers with a limited number of SKUs. I don't see this exact format working in a conventional supermarket or a retail store with multiple departments or thousands of SKUs. This is working in a controlled experiment, but how do you balance shoppers who don't want this approach or want specialized items like lottery tickets? Do you send them to the competition?I believe that someone will work out the details that would allow a shopper to carry bags to fill in larger formats as they shop, but someone smarter than me has that answer.

Shopper insights are the key to a loyalty program at Whole Foods. Providing discounts alone will only erode their image. Finding inducements to regular customers to buy more and try new products is where the productivity is in the program.

Target has been half pregnant in grocery for many years. They are trapped somewhere between a limited-assortment retailer and a conventional supermarket. In addition they hid their offering as far from the door as possible making it more difficult for shoppers to get in and out of the store. They further compounded this, in my opinion, with no or little cross-merchandising with higher-volume items near the higher-margin general merchandise area (i.e. Walmart's power alley).Target might be better served to carry only non-perishable household items and soda and snacks, etc. and devote more space to their strengths in higher-margin apparel, toys and other like categories.

I admire the gesture by Patagonia to give workers the day off to vote. Call me a cynic but I wonder what percentage of Patagonia's workers actually go to the polls. It would be very interesting to see if they respond responsibly so that the sacrifice put forward by their employer is worthwhile.We should make the most important day in the country's future a holiday. We have singled out many other days to celebrate, why not Election Day?

J.C. Penney would be better served finding ways to increase traffic and then have sufficient well-trained sales people on the floor to greet customers and offer assistance in finding items. These days many department stores are virtual ghost towns when it comes to helping customers.

This is a difficult question based on zone pricing, weekly specials etc. The airlines and hotels finally had to match their online sites with outside sites selling their rooms and flights. If a retailer has a rewards card and asks for the number they may be able to match the online request to their local retail store. This could be a programming and data mining nightmare! Eventually the retailer will have to decide how to proceed. However, matching prices may be the most effective and efficient way to maintain customers.

This customization is a logical step for social media and retailers. The Holy Grail would be to connect specific consumer data (rewards cards, frequent shopper, etc.) through social media to use in this. I think there could be some consumer push-back on this but it certainly would strengthen the practice.

It is ALWAYS important for retailers to gain market share against their competition, however grocers must also be careful to stay true to their strategic plan during this period of deflation. Passing savings to consumers is critical but now is the time to become more efficient in operations and effective in marketing. They must make better use of data to make sure customers are targeted to keep them loyal, to enable more efficient labor scheduling and to insure efficiency in routing and deliveries to contribute to offsetting revenue lost due to deflation. A price war is a fast way to the bottom for all and could make it difficult to raise prices when commodities go up as they inevitably will do.

I am continually amazed by manufacturers who cut corners or misrepresent their products to retailers. Between constant QC checks and consumer dissatisfaction the risks to the business are significant. There are also legal ramifications to consider when these decisions are made.Target could offer discounts on replacement bedding for their customers over and above the refunds to further build good will and insure dollars are replaced rather than refunds only.

This could be a very profitable leap for this company in growing their shoe market in the U.S. Customization, quality control and speed to market are all byproducts of this process which can help Adidas gain market share. They should strike quickly if they don't want to be usurped by Nike.

I believe Target has to re-position the grocery department within their stores to put more emphasis on the categories. Walmart has a separate entrance into their food area while in most Target stores the food is on the far side from the entrance. Additionally, they need to make consumers more aware of food by including the categories in their ad campaigns. Most people still don't view Target as a food destination.

Starting with a consumer direct business that does not impinge on their products sold through retailers is a stroke of genius by Unilever. This opportunity to learn and develop strategies and to execute them against one of their competitors in P&G will allow them to potentially dig into Gillette's market share while gaining traction with consumers for future products (i.e., their men's body wash and deodorant businesses). Additionally they will not be damaging their relationships with retailers while they learn.If Unilever runs this business autonomously similar to Ben & Jerry's they have a great opportunity to succeed.

There is nothing worse for morale than conducting a survey and then not sharing and acting on the results. It sounds like the hardware chain really gets it! The same can be said for customer surveys. I quit responding to many of them because there is no follow up or no change to service. The downside to surveys is the same whether for employees or customers -- no feedback and change based on the survey can mean lost customers and lost or demotivated employees.